V-371 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2014 


https://archive.org/details/keepfaithOOfede 


"That  these  dead  shall  not  have 
died  in  vain" 


Last  night  I  dreamed  a  dream. 

I  dreamed  that  I  crouched  in  the  shadows  on  a 
vine-clad  hillside  in  Prance  in  the  gathering 
twilight  of  a  day  that  was  almost  done. 

In  the  valley  below  I  heard  the  harsh  clank  of 
metal  beating  against  metal — the  vicious  machine- 
guns  spitting  Death — and,  as  the  barrage  moved 
closer,  the  shrill  whining  of  shells  through  the 
air,  and  the  dull  roar  as  they  burst  somewhere 
down  the  valley.  And  I  heard  the  shouts  and 
strange  cries  of  men  who  fought  with  men. 

In  the  dim  light  beside  me  lay  a  boy. 

He  just  lifted  his  head  out  of  the  mud  a  little — 
smiled — and  died. 

Seventy-two  thousand  Americans  died  like  that 
in  France  and  passed  along  the  torch  to  their 
comrades  in  France  and  to  us — their  comrades 
back  home. 


No  nation  in  the  history  of  the  world  was  less 
prepared  for  war  than  was  America  when  the  war 
began. 


[3] 


No  nation  was  better  prepared  when  it  ended. 

When  the  Armistice  was  signed  America  was 
turning  out  war  materials  on  such  a  gigantic  scale 
and  at  such  a  high  speed  that  the  whole  world 
wondered. 

Men — money — material . 

( ;uns  aeroplanes  —  ships  —  motor- trucks  — 
gas  —  food  —  "TNT"  —  locomotives  —  shoes  — 
hand-grenades  —  bullets  —  searchlights  —  tanks- 
Liberty  motors  shells  —  helmets  —  tents  —rifles 
—bayonets— machine-guns— battleships. 

Our  Allies  knew. 


Germany  knew. 


Every  ninety  days  nearly  a  million  American 
soldiers    trained  to  fight— equipped  to  tight- 
eager  to  fight— were  landing  in  France— ready  to 
dash  forward  on  the  double-quick  to  take  their 
places  in  the  battle-line. 

Every  day  great  fleets  of  ships — laden  until 
they  rode  low  in  the  water— were  steaming  full 
speed  ahead  through  German  danger  zones  into 
French   harbors  and  dumping  their  cargoes  of 

[  4  ] 


American  war  materials  upon  American  docks— 
in  France. 

Every  day  and  all  through  the  night  American 
workmen  were  loading  this  American  freight  into 
American  freight  cars  and  rushing  it  at  top  speed 
over  American  railroads  to  American  armies  on 
the  American  battle-front — in  Prance. 

^  I  en — money — mater  i  a  1 . 

In  eighteen  months  America  raised  eighteen 
billion  dollars. 

And  spent  it. 


When  the  war  ended  there  were  over  a  million 
and  a  half  fine  American  boys  in  our  camps  over 
here,  ready  to  fight,  eager  to  fight.  They  were 
the  same  material  that  the  Germans  got  acquainted 
with  at  St.  Mihiel  and  the  Argonne  forest.  It 
cost  millions  to  train  and  equip  them.  They 
didn't  have  their  great  chance.  But  they  fought 
for  Victory  as  a  big  part  of  the  American  fighting 
machine.  They  were  ready,  and  Germany  knew 
they  were  ready. 


America  was  turning  out  war  materials  so  fast 
when  the  Armistice  was  signed  that  in  the  next 
few  weeks— before  all  the  machinery  could  be 
stopped— we  had  enough— guns,  clothes,  ammuni- 
tion, aeroplanes,  trucks— to  equip  in  every  detail 
a  new  army  as  large  as  the  one  we  already  had  in 
France. 

And  we  have  that  material  right  now. 

It  fought  to  bring  a  speedy  victory  just  as  much 
as  the  materials  which  were  actually  used.  It 
was  ready.    And  Germany  knew  it  was  ready. 


Some  time  last  summer,  came  a  German  secret 
service  agent  to  the  German  Great  Headquarters 
and  told  the  Kaiser,  or  Von  Hindenburg,  or  Luden- 
dorff,  or  Somebody  the  big  things  America  was 
doing  to  win  the  war. 

And  Somebody  gave  a  long,  loud  laugh. 

But  the  next  day  another  report  of  the  same 
kind  came  in — and  the  next  day  another — and 
the  next  day — and  the  next — 


[6] 


Until  after  a  little  while  Somebody  quit  laughing 
and  sent  a  hurry-up  message  to  Washington, 
D.  C,  U.  S.  A.,  that  He,  representing  the  Consti- 
tuted Authorities  of  the  German  People,  would 
be  glad,  very,  very  glad  indeed,  to  talk  Peace. 

And  would  Washington  please  be  so  good  as  to 
reply  promptly. 


Strange,  isn't  it. 

Germany  had  the  men  and  she  had  the  guns 
and  she  had  the  desire — to  go  on  with  the  War 
for  many  months. 

Why  then,  all  this  rush  about  the  Armistice 
in  November  ? 

There  is  just  one  answer — the  whole  world 
knows  it. 

Germany  was  Scared  to  Death. 

She  knew  that  if  she  didn't  quit  while  the 
quitting  was  good,  American  aeroplanes  would 
blacken  her  skies — American  shells  would  blow 
her  cities  off  the  map — and  American  soldiers 
would  be  marching  through  the  streets  of  Berlin 
singing  "Hail,  Hail,  the  Gang's  All  Here!"  before 
the  leaves  were  green  again  in  Unter  den  Linden. 

It  costs  a  lot  of  money  to  scare  a  nation  to  death. 

I  7  J 


Genera]  Pershing's  staff  reports  officially  that 
if  the  War  had  lasted  for  six  months  longer — one 
hundred  thousand  more  American  soldiers  would 
have  been  killed. 

One  hundred  thousand  of  these  American  boys 
that  are  coming  back  to  us  every  day  now,  would 
have  been  smiling  and  dying  in  the  mud  of  France 
—if  the  Armistice  had  been  signed  last  Thursday 
instead  of  last  November. 

Are  we  grateful  to  those  who  died  ? 

Are  we  grateful  to  those  who  were  maimed  for 
life  in  our  fight  ? 

Are  we  grateful  to  have  so  many  boys  back 
with  us  safe  and  sound  ? 

Is  there  enough  gratitude  in  the  world  to  express 
the  thanksgiving  in  our  hearts  because  Victory 
came  so  soon  ? 


The  ■  money  you  and  I  are  putting  into  the 
Victory  Loan  is  the  money  we  spent  to  end  the 
War  six  months — perhaps  twelve  months — ahead 
of  time. 

[8  ] 


One  hundred  thousand  Americans  in  French 
mud. 

Well — we  got  our  money's  worth. 

We  might  all  have  been  wearing  one  of  those 
little  black  arm-bands  with  a  gold  star  on  it. 


When,  retreating  into  the  Fatherland,  tlm 
whipped  and  beaten  German  armies  crossed  the 
Rhine  and  entered  German  cities,  they  were 
welcomed  as  conquering  heroes.  Between  rows 
of  cheering  German  people  who  crowded  the  curbs, 
they  marched  under  "Arches  of  Triumph"  with 
their  flags  unfurled — with  their  bands  playing 
" Deutschland  iiber  Alles"  and  with  flowers  in 
the  muzzles  of  their  guns. 

"It  is  to  laugh!"  as  they  used  to  say  in  ( icrmany 
before  the  War.    "It  is  to  laugh!" 


L'JJ 


On  the  eleventh  of  November  last  year  a  French 
soldier  by  the  name  of  Foch  said— 

"It  .shall  not  be!" 

With  cold  foresight  and  the  knowledge  born  of 
experience,  he  threw  a  cordon  of  guns  and  bayonets 
and  men  around  the  German  people.  To-day, 
with  their  Allies,  half  a  million  of  America's 
soldiers  stand  guard  over  the  German  border. 

Half  a  million  of  our  soldiers  are  on  the  job  to 
stay — until  the  World  is  safe  again. 

* 

*  * 

It  costs  $2.74  a  day  to  keep  one  of  those  soldiers 
there    over  one  and  a  quarter  million  dollars 

a  day. 

Is  it  worth  it  ? 

* 

*  * 

It  is  going  to  cost  us  an  even  $200  to  bring 
each  one  of  them  home  again — when  that  job  is 
finished. 

Is  it  worth  it  ? 

* 

*  * 

There  are  some  other  things  for  us  to  pay  for 
before  we're  through — before  we  finish  our  job. 

Two  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  of  our 
soldiers  were  wounded  in  this  War.  Some  of 
them  are  well  now — some  of  them  aren't — some 
of  them  never  will  be. 


[  10  ] 


We've  got  to  bind  up  their  wounds  and  pay 
for  their  nursing — and  for  some  of  them  we've 
got  to  buy  new  arms  and  legs — three  thousand 
and  twenty-four  arms  and  legs. 


And,  we,  the  American  People,  have  got  to 
raise  the  money — 

You  and  I  and  the  family  that  lives  next  door 
If  we  are  going  to  finish  our  job. 
The  Banks  ? 

Why — if  we  leave  it  to  the  Banks  to  take  most 
of  the  Victory  Loan  where  will  our  Prosperity 
be  ? — the  prosperity  that  we've  worked  for— and 
saved  for— and  waited  for— the  prosperity  thai 
is  just  around  the  corner  now  provided  we  do 
our  share. 

American  business  has  got  to  have  a  sound 
banking  system  behind  it — if  we  are  going  to  take 
advantage  of  the  prosperity  that  is  ours  for  the 
asking— and  the  greater  activity  in  every  kind  of 
industry— with  plenty  of  jobs  and  better  times 
for  us  all. 

If  we  leave  the  Banks  to  finish  our  job  for  us 
we'll  have  the  kind  of  prosperity  that  shows  itself 
in  slow  business — low  wages— few  jobs. 


[  11 1 


This  loan  is  our  business-the  business  of  the 
American  people  as  a  whole,  the  people  who  won 
the  War.    And  it  is  good  business. 


There's  another  side  of  this  thing,  too— the 
investment  side  of  it. 

We  don't  think  of  it  very  often— this  matter 
of  interest. 

But  buying  Victory  Notes  isn't  like  dropping 
money  down  a  well. 

Instead  of  saying  "There  it  goes!"  when  we 
put  fifty  or  a  hundred  or  a  thousand  dollars  into 
the  Victory  Loan,  we  say  "Here  it  comes!"— for 
every  single  dollar  we  put  in  comes  back  to  us 
again  with  interest. 

We  Americans  didn't  put  our  money  into  this 
W  ar  because  it  was  a  good  business  proposition. 
We  didn't  think  of  the  interest — and  we  didn't 
care  about  it  either. 

And  we  don't  care  about  it  now,  for  its  own  sake. 

We're  not  going  to  buy  this  Victory  Loan  just 
because  it's  a  safe,  sound,  money-making  business 
proposition  that  pays  good  interest.  That  isn't 
the  reason. 

But  tin1  interest  is  there  just  the  same. 


t  12] 


Every  Victory  Note  we  buy — you  and  I  —is 
the  best  possible  investment  we  can  make — 
the  Government  and  people  of  the  United  states 
of  America  stand  behind  it.  And  the  Government 
pledges  its  word  that  every  dollar  we  put  into  the 
Victory  Liberty  Loan  shall  come  back  to  us— 
dollar  for  dollar — with  interest. 

Is  there  anything  much  safer  than  that  in  tins 
world  ? 


The  killing  is  over. 

It  lasted  four  years,  three  months  and  fourteen 
days.  We  Americans  were  in  it  for  one  year, 
seven  months,  and  five  days. 

And  now  it  is  over.  And  we  want  to  forget  it 
and  live  the  rest  of  our  lives  the  way  Almighty 
God  intended  we  should  live  them— in  Peace  and 
Freedom  and  some  degree  of  Happiness. 

But— 

Seventy-two  thousand  Americans  died  in  France 
and  left  a  job  for  us  to  finish— first. 

"If  ye  break  faith  with  us  who  die 
We  shall  not  sleep,  though  poppies  grow 
In  Flanders  fields." 


[  13  ) 


In  Flanders  Fields 

In  Flanders  fields  the  poppies  blow 
Between  the  crosses,  row  on  row, 
That  mark  our  place,  and  in  the  sky, 
The  larks,  still  bravely  singing,  fly, 
Scarce  heard  amid  the  guns  below. 

We  are  the  dead  ;  short  days  ago 
We  lived,  felt  dawn,  saw  sunset  glow, 
Loved  and  were  loved,  and  now  we  lie 
In  Flanders  fields. 

Take  up  our  quarrel  with  the  foe  I 
To  you  from  failing  hands  we  throw 
The  torch ;  be  yours  to  hold  it  high  I 
If  ye  break  faith  with  us  who  die 
We  shall  not  sleep,  though  poppies  grow 
In  Flanders  fields. 

Lieut-Col  McCRAE 


Government  Loan  Organization 

Second  Fedelral  Rese.ve  District 
Liberty  Loan  Committee 


